Obuasi, Sep. 1, GNA - The Obuasi Municipal Chief Executive, Mr John Alexander Ackon, has said the concept of private sector participation would form the Assembly's policy direction towards the acceleration of the development of the Municipality. "Private sector participation in development needs to be encouraged by the Municipal Assembly to help facilitate the development of the area", he stressed.

Mr. Ackon said this when he inaugurated a 120,000 Ghana Cedis modern public sanitation facility for the Sampsonkrom community in Obuasi, built by a private petrol dealer and businessman, Seidu Mohammed. The facility has a 24-unit water closet place of convenience, 18-unit bathrooms, and a laundry place for washing clothing, with drying lines.

"It is a unique facility in this municipality and it is a collective responsibility of the Assembly and the general public to help maintain the facility to guarantee a longer lifespan", the MCE said, adding in a light-hearted tone that "this sanitation facility is equivalent to an airport." Mr. Ackon commended Mr. Seidu Mohammed for his foresight and quality work delivery, and urged members of the community to ensure its proper maintenance.

The MCE said the Assembly needed public spirited persons to team up with it to invest in the economic growth of the municipality. The proprietor, Mr. Seidu Mohammed, said he was moved by the deteriorating nature of toilet facilities in the community to provide the facility, and appealed to the public to practice good personal hygiene. Mr. John Sackey, Chairman of the Environmental Sub-committee of the Assembly, warned against the defecation and dumping of refuse at unauthorized places in the Municipality, and called for a change of attitude on the part of the residents. The Assemblyman for the area, Mr David Kenyah, said the Assembly was determined to improve its sanitation record and would, therefore, totally supported the Environmental sub-committee's move to enforce the observance of clean sanitation in the local communities. "I will not in anyway avail myself to plead for any member of the community caught by the sub-committee for defecating at an unauthorized place", the Assemblyman warned.